Another fast-moving Pacific storm system brought locally high winds to southern Nevada and southeast California.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Another fast-moving Pacific storm system brought locally high winds to southern Nevada and southeast California.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 11, 3:03 PM PST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 303 PM PST FRI MAR 11 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT BRINGING BREEZY CONDITIONS AND A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO MUCH OF THE AREA. COOLER AND DRIER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST THIS WEEKEND. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN LATE THIS WEEKEND INTO MONDAY BRINGING SLIGHT CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION TO THE SIERRA AND BREEZY CONDITIONS TO THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS RETURN FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. VORT MAX CURRENTLY CENTERED NEAR 38N/123W IS SET TO MOVE THROUGH OUR AREA TONIGHT. WINDY CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING IN MUCH OF OUR AREA THIS AFTERNOON, WITH FREQUENT GUSTS ABOVE 40 MPH IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN, THE OWENS VALLEY, THE MOJAVE DESERT, AND MOHAVE COUNTY. WINDS IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AND THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY ARE BEGINNING TO INCREASE AS WELL. WINDS ARE NEAR THEIR MAX IN NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA RIGHT NOW WITH SPEEDS EXPECTED TO BE HIGHEST THIS EVENING IN THE MOJAVE DESERT AND ADJACENT SOUTHERN NEVADA. CURRENT WIND ADVISORY LOOKS GOOD. PRECIP MACHINE HAS STARTED IN CENTRAL CA WITH SPILLOVER IN THE SIERRA LIKELY STARTING BASED ON AREA WEBCAMS. HI-RES MODELS CONSISTENT IN GENERATING PRECIP IN ESMERALDA, INYO, AND WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES 00Z-05Z, NYE COUNTY, DEATH VALLEY, THE SPRING MOUNTAINS, AND NORTHEAST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY 03Z-08Z...AND LINCOLN, CLARK, AND NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTIES 05Z-12Z WITH ANY LINGERING PRECIP EXITING THE AREA BY LATE MORNING. INHERITED POPS LOOKED PRETTY GOOD AND DID NOT MODIFY TOO MUCH GIVEN CONSISTENT MODEL OUTPUT THE PAST 24 HOURS. FAST PROGRESSION OF THE SYSTEM ENSURES LIGHT PRECIP AMOUNTS WITH MOST LOCATIONS SEEING A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS (MAINLY NORTH OF I-40). SNOW IN THE SIERRA LOOKS TO BE AROUND 3-6 INCHES NEAR RIDGETOP LEVEL AND A TRACE TO 3 INCHES BELOW 9500 FEET...BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. A TRACE TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SPRING AND WHITE MOUNTAINS AND SHEEP RANGE. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW SOME MARGINAL ELEVATED INSTABILITY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE TRACK OF THE UPPER LOW, SO INCLUDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND ADJACENT NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY OVERNIGHT. COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN TO THE AREA THIS WEEKEND, THOUGH GUIDANCE WAS A BIT WARMER WITH HIGHS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THAN THEY WERE SHOWING 24 HOURS AGO. NEVERTHELESS, EXPECT TEMPS TO BE ABOUT 8-14 DEGREES LOWER THIS WEEKEND THAN WHAT WAS SEEN TODAY. NEXT SYSTEM WILL MOVE ONTO THE PACIFIC COAST ON SUNDAY, BUT THE STORM TRACK WILL BE TO OUR NORTH...LEAVING OUR AREA MOSTLY DRY. REDUCED POPS IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN GIVEN THE CONTINUED NORTHWARD TREND. THE SOUTHERN SIERRA MAY SEE ANOTHER COUPLE INCHES OF SNOW BUT NOTHING TOO SUBSTANTIAL. MORE BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE IN STORE FOR THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SPRING MOUNTAINS ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT IN ADVANCE OF THE SECOND SYSTEM. AS THE SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN, BREEZY NORTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN ON MONDAY. TEMPS ON MONDAY LOOK TO BE JUST A TAD WARMER THAN THIS WEEKEND. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. OUR LATEST WEATHER SYSTEM WILL HAVE EXITED EAST, WITH A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPING TUESDAY. DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE MODEL DATA DEPICT A RIDGE WILL AMPLIFY OFF THE WEST COAST AND GRADUALLY MOVE INLAND THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES, TEMPERATURES SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (MID 70S TO LOWER 80S ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT), AND NORTHERLY WINDS THROUGH THE LONG TERM PERIOD. WINDS OF GENERALLY 15-25 MPH EACH DAY LOOK LIKELY ALONG THE NEVADA/ARIZONA BORDER WITH LIGHTER WINDS ELSEWHERE. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE THIS EVENING WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS LIKELY BETWEEN 02Z-06Z. SPEEDS WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM 20-30 KTS...BUT WILL GUST TO AROUND 35 KTS THIS EVENING. THERE COULD BE SOME PERIODS OF REDUCED VISIBILITY IN BLOWING DUST. ISOLATED SHOWERS THIS EVENING WITH THE BEST WINDOW BEING BETWEEN 05Z-07Z. CIGS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE 10K FEET BUT COULD BRIEFLY DROP TO AROUND 6-8K FEET IN THE VICINITY OF ANY SHOWERS. THERE COULD ALSO BE A LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO THIS EVENING AFFECTING MAINLY THE BEATTY AND MORMON MESA CORRIDORS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL OCCUR THIS EVENING WITH MOST LOCATIONS SEEING WIND GUSTS APPROACHING 35-40 KTS. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM THE NORTH BEHIND A COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST AND GRADUALLY DIMINISH BEHIND THE FRONT. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL OCCUR THROUGH 08Z TONIGHT WITH THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS ESMERALDA...CENTRAL NYE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. CIGS DOWN TO 6-8K FEET VICINITY OF SHOWERS. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED. SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && SHORT TERM...SHAFER LONG TERM...PADDOCK AVIATION...GORELOW FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred at Bicycle Lake (KBYS) on Fort Irwin.
This gust occurred at the Needles Airport (KEED).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2016
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 619532, 619533.